A MEDAL given to a Tyneside war hero who disarmed a live bomb in the Blitz has sold for a world record £93,000.

Sgt Michael Gibson, 34, of Chopwell, Gateshead, was awarded the George Cross after he defused an explosive at the Triumph factory in September 1940.

The citation for his award – the second highest in the UK for gallantry – stated: “His prompt and courageous action saved a very dangerous situation.”

Now the medal , which was sold in the 1960s to a private collector by the family from Gateshead, has been sold at auction in London – beating the previous record of £86,000.

Sgt Gibson’s grandson Michael, of Blaydon, said: “It’s a lot of money. The medal was sold in the ’60s just because they generally didn’t have any money.

“It’s just one of them things. It was a big surprise when we heard how much it had sold for. I couldn’t believe it.

“I half expected it to be sold one day, but not for that much. His name is in lights again.”

Christopher Hill, of auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb, leading auctioneers in coins and medals, said: “There is a growing appreciation for the George Cross, which is rarer than the Victoria Cross.

“The George Cross is generally awarded for gallantry where you know beforehand the risk to life involved, as opposed to the Victoria Cross which is in the heat of battle.”

But Sgt Gibson never picked up his prestigious award because he was killed on October 18, 1940, at the age of 34, while working with the 9th Bomb Disposal Company Royal Engineers.

He died alongside six comrades when a 560lb bomb exploded at Whitley Common, Coventry, after it had been removed by a truck from a housing estate.

He earned himself the George Cross for previously having single-handedly defused another explosive nearby.

In 2008, following an appeal in the Chronicle, his son Derek, 72, of Winlaton, who was just eight when his father died, grandson Michael, 58, and great-grandson Michael, 13, where tracked down.

The breakthrough came just in time for them to be guests of honour at the unveiling of a memorial in Coventry, close to where Sgt Gibson lost his life.

Michael says that, despite not having his medal in the family, his memories, wartime tales and pictures are still being passed down the generations.

Michael said: “We still have the pictures and he still gets talked about.

“My son is called Michael and hopefully his name will be passed down the generations. He will never be forgotten.

“Our family is so proud of him. The memories of him are more precious than any medals.”

Sgt Gibson was in charge of the operation to dig out and defuse a device when another bomb exploded. The bomb he was working on seemed likely to explode, so he sent the rest of his team to shelter and continued to work alone.

War memorial enthusiast Michael Hardy, from Crawcrook, near Gateshead, was enlisted to help find relations in 2008.

Also killed in the Coventry blast were Second Lieutenant Alexander Fraser Campbell and Sappers William Gibson, Richard Gilchrest, Jack Plumb, Ronald William Skelton and Ernest Arthur Stote.